I got transferred over here from google+, so I'll simply repaste my post from there:

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... a designer posting in the development section [g+ community] might be the last thing you'd expect. However, being a bit of a part-time geek along with yearlong involvement of pushing some pxls in the open source community makes me not that misplaced.

I haven't done as much over the last 3 years or so, but I still have a creative wishlist I'd like to accomplish some day. One the things I was always interested in is User interface design. To be precise, this time I would love to be able to contribute, not just by making a wallpaper and a theme, but a complete UI for a distro.

Now, the average designer might want to use the whole range of gimmicks available, but I always found that simplicity and less resources are far more interesting to work with. Puppy Linux fits in here perfectly, it's small simple yet there's plenty of room for creativity.

My diploma thesis (link below) was a self-inspired CI and image campaign for Debian Linux (I used to do stuff for them in the past), not intended to be implemented, but as some of my geek friends got hold of it, they wheedled me into it and present it to the broad Debian devs community. It didn't work out for internal reasons, which is fine, as it wasn't my call to begin with. It did however spark some new creative challenges that I'd like to explore. Would Puppy Linux be open for a collaboration?

http://bit.ly/NJStPh﻿
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If you managed it till here by now, thanks for reading. I'm looking forward to your input.

thanks for the nice welcome words. Well if some saw my "Debian-designs", that would only be a tip of the iceberg. The crucial part is also the distro itself. It's not only about how it looks, but also how it communicates, starting with the install screens and all the way to the GUI. So for example, choosing the right wording and keeping things as short and simple as possible, wrapping it in a clean and simple design (believe it or not, it's even doable with ncurses ) and then have it implemented.

This would require to work closely with the coders, depending the team(s) is/are structured. Once the distro is covered, we can then move on to campaigns and other promoting imagery.

Moving on, another important part of this would be the logo. I do like the idea of a puppy head, but it could get some very slight changes (kind of like what I did with the Debian logo). I am aware that this is often a "touchy" subject. I would hope though, that puppy linux is a bit more open to some changes.

My motivation behind all this is to make open source products professionally appealing. It was always quite sad to see lots of great projects out there, many of them would even suit a broader public. But due to poor design, it would never spread out beyond the uber-geeks circles. It's not just a lack of resources to get a designer, it's often also a lack of understanding how important design is, which is more than just pushing some pxls.

Perhaps we can chat on IRC about this? Do you guys have a #? I'm online most of the day so maybe we can meet up?

Communication-wise given the really global nature of puppy development asynchronous contact ie this forum, a development mailing list and github are the preferred modes, but there is a indeed an IRC channel (#puppylinux), though strange things are happening occasionally over there...

UI-wise zigbert has actually taken upon himself to improve it in woof-CE, and if you compare the previous official version and the latest one, you will hopefully agree that he is moving in the right direction.

In any case you may want to use puppy for a couple of days, get a feeling of what is all about and then see what you come up with design wise.
Then we could discuss implementation here or in the other communication venues._________________== Here is how to solve yourLinux problems fast ==

herd of wild cats? Perhaps it might be a good idea to talk to one of the kittehs. Any idea how they can be reached? If some of them happen to be on IRC, that would be the easiest way to check it out, before jumping on other playgrounds.

I already saw the "improved" version by zigbert, which actually made me want to help out. So yeah, there's still plenty of room to start from there.

In many open source projects, ego, emotions, opinions and power struggles often stand in the way to get anything done. Many of the coders who do contribute in other parts than their own have an emotional attachment to what they did. They have/had good intentions, but yet have trouble letting go or accept that their attempts are not according to a professional standard. It often feels like someone is running them over, and if that's how it will be perceived, it won't be worth my and anyone else's effort.

The only project that is professionally well designed is Ubuntu. They have bunch of designers onboard and they know what they're doing, for the most part Ideally, it would be great to have a small team of core people to work with, where every individual has their field of expertise, with preferably not much drama going on.

pxlgirl
I don't think you'll meet much drama around here. It happens from time to time, but as you say yourself - the drama increases with the actors ego.

I think it would be wise of you to just start do some specific improvements of your liking. Puppy is maybe a 'herd of wild cats', but it is also a do-ocracy, where those who put effort into it, often get their will.

Personally, I really like the idea of simplifying the syntax in the guis. It is way too technical atm. And you speak English natively (which I obviously don't ).

Help-pages are outdated (to use a polite word), and a great project for a person who like web-design.

For a gtkdialog-skilled person, mavrothal has put our eyes on gui-render-speed in the new guis.

The new vector icon-set is far from complete. It does ie. not support all gtk-icons yet. It also lacks icons for many apps as the games.

This list has of course no ending. Most important is that everyone chooses a task they enjoy. Like that, it will more likely end with success.

My next step in 'improving' (from my prespective) the Puppy outfit is described here.

My motivation behind all this is to make open source products professionally appealing. It was always quite sad to see lots of great projects out there, many of them would even suit a broader public. But due to poor design, it would never spread out beyond the uber-geeks circles. It's not just a lack of resources to get a designer, it's often also a lack of understanding how important design is, which is more than just pushing some pxls.

Hi...

Welcome to the forums

While I would agree with you for the most part, I think Puppy falls into a special niche or category (a distro specifically for older systems) and would be hesitant to see any changes that adds any additional weight and/or requirements on hardware such as the GPU. Older chipsets can't handle fancier, more intense graphics.

But that might depend on how you do it. I'm a hardware guy not a programmer, so I'm not really knowledgeable on how things work on your end.

I had a look at your work at the link you provided, you're a good artist. But to offer my opinion concerning possible improvements, I think there is too much gray and black in your drawings and the women could use a bit more covering, if you know what I mean.

Thank you for coming to possibly offer us your talents.

Regards..._________________Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ loves and cares about you most of all!

A few guys have done designs or manual for Puppy and made arrangements with commercial providers (usually printers or makers of souvenir items) to sell items using their work. However, the "softcopy" is generally downloadable for free._________________Puppy user since Oct 2004. Want FreeOffice? Get the sfs (English only).

Hi pxlgirl, I agree Puppy could do with a visual makeover, and your talents would be welcome.
The lowdown is (I think) : Barry K (the maker) is chillin' out.
Micko is carrying on with Puppy.
James Bond and his mates have done 64 bit (and Tazoc).
Karl Godt knows loads about programming.
Rcrn51 is the man for printing, network and related.
Mikeb probably has a stash of good stuff for form and function, and esoteric looniness, especially crayons, which I am also very fond of.
Zigbert as you know does a lot of the design.
RSH is on a mission.
Announcer is the realtime kernel and music nut.
ETP made the Mr Maggoo Pups.

And loads of others are tweaking and experimenting and making Puppy a really neat little OS. (Well it already is really).

I'll have to take a closer look at all the components and where to start. I have a visual impairment, so reading can take a while. BTW, I'm not an English native...

As for the fancy graphics, let me assure you, it's not going to be anything like that. Quite the contrary, I find it much more interesting to create something out of very little, less is more! The idea would be to keep it universal but still unique enough so it can target a broader audience as well. I'm not a huge fan of too fancy stuff, especially b/c it's always subject to change and out of date quickly. The idea here would be to create some sort of a sustainable design framework, that can last for a long while w/o the need to change too many things from scratch.

And oh, my drawings... many of them are actually quite old, I should put up some new ones. My recent ones are more like "fantasy-fairies", but they still don't wear too much. That's the good thing about art, you can draw things you like that otherwise might seem "edgy".

Back to Puppy though, I would start with some install routine screenshots, and work out an idea for the logo that I've had. I am currently a bit loaded with a paid project, but I'll have some time in between to focus on Puppy as well, only a bit slower. To make communication easier, how about if I set up a new # on IRC (OFTC or freenode, pick one), dedicated to puppy design issues? Does that sound like an idea?

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